Warren Buffett, Oracle of Osaka

Plus: Former Twitter execs want courts to make sure that X gonna give it to ‘em. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 12, 2023

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TOGETHER WITH

Good morning.

One group that won’t have to Google “Does my company still have a Covid vaccine requirement?” anymore is Google employees.

The Big G notified staff on Tuesday that it is lifting the vaccine requirement for workers to enter the company’s offices. Well, we should clarify that it told its remaining workers that it is lifting the vaccine requirement for their remaining offices as the search giant has laid off 12,000 staffers so far this year and has moved aggressively to shrink its real estate footprint. But, hey, no more vaccine requirements!

Morning Brief

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Berkshire Hathaway takes a trip abroad.

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Is AI advancing too quickly?

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Ex-Twitter execs want Elon to pay up.

Investing

Warren Buffett is Shifting his Focus to Japan

Uncle Warren’s on a trip to Japan, nearly 10,000 miles from Omaha, and the best America’s banks can hope for are souvenirs.

This week, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Japan’s five top trading houses while issuing yen bonds for the first time in months. The move marks a curiously timed, yet notable, straying interest abroad for Omaha’s folksy oracle. Heck, Japan doesn’t even have a Dairy Queen.

The Oracle of Osaka

At 92 years young, Buffett may be growing a bit cold as he ages. Example: back when Goldman Sachs was desperate to raise capital in the early days of 2008’s global financial meltdown, Buffett poured $5 billion into Wall Street’s favorite death star. That investment eventually turned into a $3.7 billion payday for Berkshire, but Buffett let outsiders believe that patriotic altruism played a major role in his investment. “The system had stopped. I describe it as an economic Pearl Harbor, except it was the economy that had gotten hit by an unbelievable force,” Buffett told Vice News in 2018.

But as this year’s banking crisis unfurled, Buffett and Berkshire were nowhere to be found. “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” Buffett has famously preached, though he may be adding an addendum to the investment motto: “… and when you’re old and the you-know-what hits the fan, head East”:

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Way back in August 2020, Berkshire disclosed it had acquired roughly 5% in each of the nation’s top five trading houses: Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Corp., Itochu, and Marubeni. But now, Berkshire has increased its stakes to around 7.4% for each company.

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Meanwhile, Berkshire’s marketing of yen bonds makes it the first major international debt issuer during the new Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s reign, with many seeing the move as a signal Berkshire’s ventures in Japan are far from over.

“We feel that these five companies are a cross-section of not only Japan but of the world,” Buffett told Nikkei Asia on Tuesday. “They are really so much similar to Berkshire. They own a lot of different things.” He also added that there are “a few” other Japanese companies he’s always thinking about investing in.

Mint Chip: But while Berkshire’s made strategic investments in Japan, it’s also making strategic divestments out of Taiwan. After pouring some $4 billion into shares of chipmaker TSMC last summer, Berkshire reduced its holdings to just $617 million by the end of the year. Buffett told Nikkei that geopolitical tensions were a “consideration” for the move. That’s something he’s never had to worry about with his beloved stake in Dairy Queen.

– Brian Boyle

Technology

It’s Getting Harder for Computers to Identify AI Images

The refrain “Pics or it didn’t happen” is about to lose all meaning.

As the world’s largest tech companies dive deeper and deeper into the capabilities of artificial intelligence, even the programs designed specifically to identify phony images created by AI can’t tell what is real and what is fake, The Wall Street Journal reported. Now governments are stepping in to try to rein in the Tomorrowland tech.

What is Reality?

Most free AI programs still produce fairly janky images. For example, visit the AI image generator site Craiyon (formerly known as Dall-E Mini), type in “Tony Soprano,” and you’ll likely end up with a monstrosity that looks like the app smashed 10 different photos of the fictional mafia dad together and then went over it with the smudge tool.

What was once futuristic fodder for Sci-fi writers like Arthur C. Clarke and Harlon Ellison has quickly become run-of-the-mill. And much like those writers, it’s hard not to notice AI’s potential for harm and deception. Fake images like “Puffer Coat Pope” and Emmanuel Macron running from protestors are worth a chuckle for now, but with Microsoft, OpenAI, Alibaba, and others throwing massive investments into AI tech, keeping up with the advances won’t be easy:

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Tech company Optic has a website AI or Not, which up until recently had a 95% accuracy rate, but after AI image-generator Midjourney’s latest update, it dropped down to 89%. At one point, the tech was even tricked by “Puffer Coat Pope.”

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Companies like Microsoft are trying to get ahead of the technology by imposing restrictions on their generators and Bing’s Image Creator doesn’t let users enter prompts with prominent public figures. Midjourney has human moderators, but it’s rolling out an algorithm to process user requests, company founder David Holz told the WSJ.

The CEO of Hive – another company that detects AI content – says it’s an arms race. “We look at all the tools out there and every time they’re updating their models, we have to update ours and keep up the pace,” Kevin Guo told the WSJ.

Working for the Clampdown: The self-imposed guidelines are a sign of good faith, but China isn’t taking any chances. The Middle Kingdom’s government released draft rules on Tuesday that would require companies to submit security assessments to authorities before launching AI tools to the public. Users would also have to provide their real names and other personal information before accessing AI programs. Companies that don’t comply could face fines, suspensions, and criminal investigations.

– Griffin Kelly

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Legal

Former Twitter Execs Sue Twitter for $1 Million

(Photo Credit: Alexander Shatov/Unsplash)

Do they know who they’re dealing with? No, seriously.

Three former senior executives at Twitter are suing the social media organization for just over $1 million, which you wouldn’t think would be too much of a thing, but this is Elon Musk’s Twitter, so it’s a little harder to pin down.

Courtroom Drama

The lawsuit was filed by former CEO Parag Agrawal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former chief financial officer Ned Segal, all of whom were immediately fired when Musk took over last year in a manner that resembled a police raid more than a business transaction.

The three allege Twitter did not reimburse them for legal expenses pertaining to a bevy of shareholder lawsuits, federal investigations, and a congressional hearing:

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Gadde alone claims she spent $1 million preparing for a House Oversight Committee hearing where she was grilled on whether Twitter censored conservative speech.

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The three affirm for months they tried to reach out to Twitter for reimbursements but never received a response – not even a poop emoji reserved for inquiring journalists. That tracks with the company’s pretty much non-existent HR department and new… management philosophy.

Marks the Spot: The lawsuit might need a slight edit as Twitter technically ceased to exist when Musk pulled a Meta and merged the business into a separate company named X Corp. last week. The name is derived from Musk’s true goal of turning Twitter into an “everything app” simply called X that would be similar to China’s WeChat. So by SAT rules, he’s a quarter of the way there.

– Griffin Kelly

Extra Upside

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16 bit fashion: New pixel clothing line makes you look like an old school video game.

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Empty void: Available US office space has hit a record high.

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The operating system claimed 71% of the global market share this past quarter. As updates and features continue to pour in, it’s important to know how to utilize the tools Android gives you. Our friends at Android Intelligence do just that. Their no-cost weekly newsletter delivers three smart tips every Friday to help you optimize your favorite apps, boost productivity, and enhance your overall Android experience. Join tech journalist JR Raphael — sign up now and evolve your Android Intelligence.*

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Just For Fun

“This is my stop.”

Robot magic.

Disclaimer

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